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Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Biscochito Ice Cream Sandwiches

Biscochito Ice Cream Sandwiches

Happy New Year! I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season and are enjoying the new year! I had two weeks off work, so I was able to do some baking, celebrate the holidays with Joe and our families, and get in some much needed relaxation from work and school. I went over a week without wearing makeup and spent several days in my pajamas, which was absolutely wonderful. I also caught up on some of my TV shows (Scandal, The Walking Dead, and The Carrie Diaries) and watched the first season of American Horror Story. I'm now back at work and in a couple of weeks I'll be back in school. At the end of the month, I'll also be having surgery to remove a kidney stone that I've had since October, which is blah but I'm hoping that 2014 will be a good year!

I received three wonderful cookbooks for Christmas this year, and I am so excited to start making recipes from them. I received: Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook, Giada's Feel Good Food, and The New Southwest. I am excited to have new dessert recipes from Back in the Day Bakery (cupcakes and snowballs!), healthy recipes from Giada, and some great innovative southwest food from Megan!

Megan from the blog Scarletta Bakes published her first cookbook just a couple months ago and I've been itching to get my hands on it! Her blog is one of my favorites and I'm always looking forward to her new recipes, which not just focuses on southwest cuisine, but takes this cuisine to a while new level by creating new and innovative dishes.

Being from New Mexico, I get giddy and excited about New Mexican cuisine and when someone understands New Mexico cuisine (which is different from southwest, Tex-Mex, or Mexican cuisine). Megan definitely gets New Mexican food and has some incredible recipes in her book that includes New Mexican foods.

When I saw Megan's recipe for Biscochito Ice Cream Sandwiches, I knew that this would be one of the first recipes of hers that I would make. (It actually ended up being the second recipe I made because I made her red chile rubbed pork chops for our New Year's Eve dinner. Yum!) I had leftover biscochitos that I made during the holidays, so I put them in the freezer so that they would stay fresh until I made the ice cream sandwiches.

I didn't make any changes to Megan's ice cream recipe, except for adding in cinnamon to it so that it has more traditional biscochito flavor when you eat it on its own. I can't see myself making biscochitos throughout the year, but I do see myself making this ice cream year-round, so I wanted more of a cinnamon flavor to mimic more of the biscochito flavor that I grew up with-- that way I can serve up a bowl of biscochito ice cream whenever I want some of that wonderful biscochito flavor! We actually had some of this ice cream for dessert last night!

This is a wonderful and innovative recipe that represents exactly what I know Megan for, new twists on traditional recipes. If you like biscochitos, give this is a recipe to try. The flavors of the anise and the cinnamon go together beautifully and I love the creaminess of the ice cream. It's a great way to change up a traditional New Mexican dessert and add a little flare to make biscochitos, which are already special to New Mexicans, even more special to share with your friends and family-- which is ultimately what New Mexican food is all about!

Place bisochito cookies in the freezer overnight in a freezer bag so that they are easier to work with and won't break when you put the sandwiches together.

The next day, take out the ice cream and let sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes.

Take the cookies out of the freezer and assemble. Take one cookie and place a scoop of ice cream on the bottom of the cookie, then take another cookie and place the bottom of the cookie on top of the ice cream to make a sandwich. Slightly press the two sides of the sandwich together to adhere. Serve immediately.

If you plan on making the ice cream sandwiches all at once or to serve later, line a cookie tray with parchment paper and place in the freezer. Place each ice cream sandwich on the tray in the freezer once it is assembled, then continue to add each sandwich to the freezer once they are assembled. Once all the cookies are in the freezer, let them chill and set in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour. Then you can individually wrap them in foil, place in a freezer safe bag and store in the freezer until ready to serve.

Place the anise seeds in a dry pan over medium heat and dry toast them 3-5 minutes, until they are fragrant and slightly darkened in color. Remove from heat and place in a spice grinder, then grinder into a powder and set aside.

In a large saucepan, bring heavy cream, whole milk, sugar, and salt to a boil.

In a large bowl, add the egg yolks and whisk together. Add half the hot milk mixture to the eggs and whisk to combine. (This is so the egg yolks don't cook when you add them to the rest of the hot milk mixture.)

Lower the heat to low, and whisk in the egg mixture into the remaining hot milk mixture. Continue to cook the mixture until it is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, about 5 minutes.

Remove the mixture from the heat and pour through a mesh sieve into a heat and freezer safe container. Cover the container and place in the freezer until it is cool, at least an hour.

Once the mixture is cooled, stir in the ground anise and cinnamon. Place the mixture into an ice cream maker and prepare according to manufacturer's instructions (usually about 30 minutes). Once the mixture is fully churned, place into a freezer safe container and store in the freezer overnight until it's fully set.

Absolutely gorgeous photos my friend!! Love love the look of the ice cream. I have yet to try anise seeds...been looking for them all over to try the flavor but to no luck. I'll have to order them online and save this recipe in my back pockets. I love Megan's blog too and one of the few blogs I receive emails from because I can't wait to see what she makes next! I just won her book in a giveaway and can't wait for it to arrive.

I LOVE New Mexican cuisine. I actually keep a blue corn pancake mix with me at all times that I get from Santa Fe, and I miss eating sopapillas as well. This ice cream looks super good, and I can't believe I've never eaten biscochitos!!